Story Centered Advocacy: At Work in East Oakland

Authors: Dave Room | Green For All Fellow Candidate

It is often said that education is the foundation of a participatory democracy, which is absolutely true especially in this time of great societal complexity. Education is also foundational for a workforce that is capable of building a vibrant green economy. If we do not provide our youth – the Now Generation – with the tools they need to be productive members of society, it would be silly to think that we will create a more sustainable and equitable world.

One aspect of my Green For All fellowship is the piloting of an engagement model called story-centered advocacy. It creates possibilities to quickly generate seed funding for crucial work. In this model, we help the client to raise money through crowd sourcing for film work, social media help, and their other campaign needs.

With the film work, we create a 4-7 minute video that lays out the narrative as well as 30 second to two minute vignettes that tell compelling stories associated with various aspects of the narrative. We are piloting the model at Futures Elementary School in East Oakland.

A joint project of the Futures school community, Bay Localize, and the Collective Liberation Tour, the Save Futures campaign is proud to present "The Story of Futures" film.

A Message from the Futures Community

"Our school has been hit with some hard news. Due to very drastic budget cuts in the district, we are facing the prospect of losing 100% of our classroom teachers to layoffs. The layoffs are inequitably distributed. As the policy currently stands, many of the schools with the most vulnerable populations (low income communities of color in East and West Oakland) are being hit the hardest."

Dave Room co-founded Bay Localize – a for-impact organization that helps Bay Area residents build equitable and resilient communities, and coordinates the Local Clean Energy Alliance. He leads TakeBack the Mic Bay Area, an initiative that inspires, supports, and provides a platform for communities to tell their own stories.

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